Need To Insure New Home But Struggling To See If Most Policies Cover Everything Required

DhwERbf689

My solicitor has had me sign a document for the property I'm in the process of buying confirming I'll insure the property for a long list of different things ranging from obvious things like storm, floor and fire damage to falling trees, aircraft, earthquakes and landslip.

The problem is about 80% of the list I cannot see mentioned on ANY of the Home Insurance providers I've looked at.

Many mention things like storm damage and theft for example

But for all of them I've looked at their website and trawled through their small prints and additional documents and most don't mention some of the other things the solicitor says I must insure the home for, things like...

Aircraft, explosions, earthquakes, heave, landslip, lightning, riot.

So I've no idea if they cover it or not. It obviously seems unlikely that aircraft, riots and earthquakes would ever be an issue but still I'd ideally like to follow the solicitors instructions if possible.

Is it common for Home Insurance providers to cover some of these seemingly more obscure items?

What's your experience been?

DullGreyGuy

"Aircraft" isnt in itself a peril however collision is and that normally includes both collision with an aircraft or something dropped from it.  Sonic boom however is typically excluded. 

The rest of the items you list will be normal coverages on a standard home insurance. You should be able to check the policy book for yourself to ensure they are all mentioned under the Buildings section. Note Riot often appears in the covered and excluded section but thats more about ensuring its dealt with in the right part of the policy rather than you claiming the Molotov cocktail that hit your home was either "Accidental Damage" or "Fire" 

user1977

DhwERbf689 said:

But for all of them I've looked at their website and trawled through their small prints and additional documents and most don't mention some of the other things the solicitor says I must insure the home for, things like...

Aircraft, explosions, earthquakes, heave, landslip, lightning, riot.

I'd be very surprised if any standard policy doesn't include these things. Can you point us towards an example of one which you're convinced doesn't include them?

DhwERbf689

I've looked through 6+ policies now and I've found ones that clearly mention most of them one digging through their policy (though not all do).

Nationwide is the one I'm looking at now as it's quite clear it covers almost all of the things I need but can't see any mention of the following in the policy documents...

• Accidental Damage to Underground Services.
• Professional Fees.
• Demolition Costs.
• Public Liability.

Policy Document is here if anyone wanted to take a look and see if I was missing anything: https://static.rsagroup.com/nationwide/home-insurance/policy-wording.pdf

user1977

Stepping back a bit, why has your solicitor "had [you] sign a document for the property I'm in the process of buying confirming I'll insure the property..."? You have a previous thread suggesting this would be a cash purchase, in which case it's normally up to you what risks you insure against (if any) rather than being dictated by a mortgage lender's requirements.

But looking through that Nationwide policy, it's all there:

• Accidental Damage to Underground Services [I wouldn't consider this "compulsory" but if you want it, it's included in their accidental damage cover - see section 20 on page 26]
• Professional Fees [see page 56: "architects’, engineers’, surveyors’ and legal fees necessarily incurred in repairing or replacing your buildings"]
• Demolition Costs [also page 56: "the cost incurred for removing debris, demolition, shoring up or propping up and taking away where this is necessary to repair or replace your buildings"]
• Public Liability [see section 18 on page 25]

Aretnap

DhwERbf689 said:

I've looked through 6+ policies now and I've found ones that clearly mention most of them one digging through their policy (though not all do).

Nationwide is the one I'm looking at now as it's quite clear it covers almost all of the things I need but can't see any mention of the following in the policy documents...

• Accidental Damage to Underground Services.
• Professional Fees.
• Demolition Costs.
• Public Liability.

Policy Document is here if anyone wanted to take a look and see if I was missing anything: https://static.rsagroup.com/nationwide/home-insurance/policy-wording.pdf

You are over-thinking this. If your home is destroyed by a fire and needs rebuilding from scratch, any policy that covers fire will cover the cost of demolishing the old house and clearing the site as part of the cost of rebuilding it. It doesn't need to be included explicitly as a section in its own right.

Similarly professional fees incurred as part of repair work will be covered as part of the repair work - they didn't need to be explicitly mentioned.

(On the other hand home insurance won't pay for your piano tuner, so I suppose it depends on what you think they mean be "professional fees". It's an odd thing to insist on covering without specifyig what sort of fees in what context.)

Public liability is standard on all home insurance policies though it might be called owners liability, occupiers liability, liability to other people etc rather than "public liability".

DullGreyGuy

DhwERbf689 said:

I've looked through 6+ policies now and I've found ones that clearly mention most of them one digging through their policy (though not all do).

Nationwide is the one I'm looking at now as it's quite clear it covers almost all of the things I need but can't see any mention of the following in the policy documents...

• Accidental Damage to Underground Services.
• Professional Fees.
• Demolition Costs.
• Public Liability.

Policy Document is here if anyone wanted to take a look and see if I was missing anything: https://static.rsagroup.com/nationwide/home-insurance/policy-wording.pdf

There will be two sets of public liability, one in the Buildings for you as the owner of the property and another in Contents for you as the occupier of the building. Many companies give them marketing names and few use the term "public liability" but you can see Nationwide/RSA just describe it as "your legal liability" in the two sections


Just the first bullet won't be an automatic coverage in all policies, those that dont offer it in the base policy will have it as an add on as part of the wider Accidental Damage on the Building section. 

DhwERbf689

user1977 said:

Stepping back a bit, why has your solicitor "had [you] sign a document for the property I'm in the process of buying confirming I'll insure the property..."? You have a previous thread suggesting this would be a cash purchase, in which case it's normally up to you what risks you insure against (if any) rather than being dictated by a mortgage lender's requirements.

But looking through that Nationwide policy, it's all there:

• Accidental Damage to Underground Services [I wouldn't consider this "compulsory" but if you want it, it's included in their accidental damage cover - see section 20 on page 26]
• Professional Fees [see page 56: "architects’, engineers’, surveyors’ and legal fees necessarily incurred in repairing or replacing your buildings"]
• Demolition Costs [also page 56: "the cost incurred for removing debris, demolition, shoring up or propping up and taking away where this is necessary to repair or replace your buildings"]
• Public Liability [see section 18 on page 25]

I don't know, I did wonder why it mattered to the solicitor what home insurance I had or if I even had it at all considering it wouldn't be on them if I did or didn't but obviously I want to have it anyway and would like the best cover I can.

Thanks for looking through the document. I didn't see those items but sometimes the terminology is not the same so maybe that's why.

Appreciate it. 

DullGreyGuy

DhwERbf689 said:

user1977 said:

Stepping back a bit, why has your solicitor "had [you] sign a document for the property I'm in the process of buying confirming I'll insure the property..."? You have a previous thread suggesting this would be a cash purchase, in which case it's normally up to you what risks you insure against (if any) rather than being dictated by a mortgage lender's requirements.

But looking through that Nationwide policy, it's all there:

• Accidental Damage to Underground Services [I wouldn't consider this "compulsory" but if you want it, it's included in their accidental damage cover - see section 20 on page 26]
• Professional Fees [see page 56: "architects’, engineers’, surveyors’ and legal fees necessarily incurred in repairing or replacing your buildings"]
• Demolition Costs [also page 56: "the cost incurred for removing debris, demolition, shoring up or propping up and taking away where this is necessary to repair or replace your buildings"]
• Public Liability [see section 18 on page 25]

I don't know, I did wonder why it mattered to the solicitor what home insurance I had or if I even had it at all considering it wouldn't be on them if I did or didn't but obviously I want to have it anyway and would like the best cover I can.

Thanks for looking through the document. I didn't see those items but sometimes the terminology is not the same so maybe that's why.

Appreciate it. 

The principle is that when you exchange you are then committed to purchase it no matter what happens between the exchange and the completion date. Effectively the economic interest in the property transfers immediately.

Most the time we can be grown ups and know what we do, what we keep in the house etc etc and make a decision on if we want insurance or wouldn't be put out if the house burnt to the ground (assuming there is no mortgage - if there is then a lender wants insurance). 

Between exchange and completion is a little different in that you dont know the people living in the house, you dont know what they are doing in there, maybe they setup a meth lab. It is therefore prudent for a solicitor to recommend you have insurance for that period. Again a lender will insist on it but as a cash buyer you can choose to run the risk but the solicitor is right to strongly advise you get insurance.

DhwERbf689

DullGreyGuy said:

DhwERbf689 said:

user1977 said:

Stepping back a bit, why has your solicitor "had [you] sign a document for the property I'm in the process of buying confirming I'll insure the property..."? You have a previous thread suggesting this would be a cash purchase, in which case it's normally up to you what risks you insure against (if any) rather than being dictated by a mortgage lender's requirements.

But looking through that Nationwide policy, it's all there:

• Accidental Damage to Underground Services [I wouldn't consider this "compulsory" but if you want it, it's included in their accidental damage cover - see section 20 on page 26]
• Professional Fees [see page 56: "architects’, engineers’, surveyors’ and legal fees necessarily incurred in repairing or replacing your buildings"]
• Demolition Costs [also page 56: "the cost incurred for removing debris, demolition, shoring up or propping up and taking away where this is necessary to repair or replace your buildings"]
• Public Liability [see section 18 on page 25]

I don't know, I did wonder why it mattered to the solicitor what home insurance I had or if I even had it at all considering it wouldn't be on them if I did or didn't but obviously I want to have it anyway and would like the best cover I can.

Thanks for looking through the document. I didn't see those items but sometimes the terminology is not the same so maybe that's why.

Appreciate it. 

The principle is that when you exchange you are then committed to purchase it no matter what happens between the exchange and the completion date. Effectively the economic interest in the property transfers immediately.

Most the time we can be grown ups and know what we do, what we keep in the house etc etc and make a decision on if we want insurance or wouldn't be put out if the house burnt to the ground (assuming there is no mortgage - if there is then a lender wants insurance). 

Between exchange and completion is a little different in that you dont know the people living in the house, you dont know what they are doing in there, maybe they setup a meth lab. It is therefore prudent for a solicitor to recommend you have insurance for that period. Again a lender will insist on it but as a cash buyer you can choose to run the risk but the solicitor is right to strongly advise you get insurance.

I was never debating NOT getting insurance. I will of course 100% be getting it. I just queried why it makes any difference to the solicitor if I do or don't. I can't see how it ever would come back on them in any way if I didn't have home insurance as they don't own the home. 

DullGreyGuy

In the first instance they have a duty of care and as the experts in property transactions they should be making you aware of the need. It could also be they are using their normal scripts which will cover people with mortgages and so will go beyond just a need. Ultimately as a cash buyer it is down to you alone if you want to run the risk and I'm sure the lawyers will agree if you asked them.